Course books or DIY

for teaching
practice in initial
training?
Bill Harris
Freelance CELTA trainer
IATEFL Brighton April 2018
Session overview
v  What are ? My .
in CELTA and Trinity.
v  My and for talk.
v  What do in my training?
on my recent CELTA
and discussion from my surveys
 Teaching practice – range of materials

Supplementary Internet
ELT materials based

Hybrid lessons
based on CB Authentic
materials

Course books
TP Totally self-
created
 = lessons

Supplementary Internet
ELT materials based

Hybrid lessons
based on CB Authentic
materials

Course books
TP Totally self-
created
 CELTA syllabus requirements?
Topic 4.4: The selection, adaptation and evaluation of
materials and resources in planning (including computer and
other technology based resources)
Successful candidates are able to :
a)  Select and evaluate materials and resources (including use
of technology)

b)  Understand the need for and begin to put into practice,
with due regard for the provisions of copyright, the
adaptation of resources and materials to meet the
requirements of specific groups of adult learners

Topic 4.5: Knowledge of commercially produced resources and

non-published materials and classroom resources for teaching
English to adults
Successful candidates are able to :
u  develop a basic working knowledge of some commercially
produced and non-published materials and classroom
resources for teaching English to adults
 CELTA syllabus summary

, and have a ‘
of produced and
materials

No explicit reference in either scheme to

 Trinity Cert TESOL syllabus
Unit 4: Materials Assignment

Successful trainees will demonstrate the following

learning outcomes in the context of initial training:
1)  the ability to
simple classroom and accompanying
tasks
2)  the ability to produce a written rationale and
evaluation of the effectiveness of the materials
3)  the ability to reflect on and discuss the use of the
selected materials.

Is this the tail wagging the dog … Trinity candidates

creating their own materials to provide an example for unit
4????
My motivation for the talk

Initial training in
!!!!
Working as tutor at ih
Hastings with

My own preference for
using non-course book
lessons in

Discussions with Trinity
tutors with Assessing CELTAs

A belief in the need for

Course books back in the 80s.
Kernel Lessons!
Black and white and grammar based.
Course books today – the full Monty!
My own options for TP

Internet
based Authentic
Supplementary ELT
materials materials

Totally
self-

TP
created
 Cuisenaire
Lang rods – lots
input via Situational
presentations of
live possibilities Dialogue
listening building for
and GD pron

Exploiting a
song Using a
picture
story

Jazz
TP chants
 My last CELTA – ended on Friday!
18 very and Iranian
teachers in Armenia.
They really enjoyed going …
!
Saeed – teaching the
 Saeed

I used the in my class to

teach students pronunciation, which in
my humble opinion, went absolutely
brilliantly - mainly because I went
and
to cater to the .
That is the beauty of using authentic
materials and other non-course book lessons
as you have the to meet the
.
Mehrdad - a
using an authentic text
Amir –a story for note taking and
retelling.
( From my input session and J.Harmer webinar)
Amir on the value of non-course book lessons

to a predetermined set
of materials considered suitable for ALL types
of learners and classes
u  helping teachers to become
with their lesson plans 
according to your
irrespective of the scopes and
sequences dictated by coursebooks
u  having the chance to humanize and localize
your lessons to as much as
possible
u  making use of a wide variety of sources to
the productivity
u  promoting for teachers 
Dina - story telling with

u  I have been teaching for

sixteen years now and I
have attended lots of
workshops and webinars,
but the special thing about
this course is the -
lessons. They
are just amazing!
u  I really enjoyed teaching
the and
exploiting an
to consolidate the
second conditional.
Dina loved the rods so much … but couldn’t I’ve got a
buy them in Iran. pron chart
to take
home but
those rods
are so cool!
 I can’t
believe I’ll get
Bill is another box
giving me next week!
his rods!
via survey monkey
 Q 2: Please indicate the you
encourage trainees to use in TP.

Ø All lessons using course book material

with very little adaptation
Ø Almost all lessons based on course book
material with some adaptation
Ø Mostly course book based lessons with
occasional DIY options
Ø Mostly DIY lessons with occasional course
book based lessons
Ø No course book material used
 Q 3 : For course book based lessons, to
what extent do trainees prefer to follow the
book?

v Totally from the book.

v A hybrid of book based and trainee
created stages.
v Taking topic or language from the
book but not actually using book
material
v No course book based lessons.
Q 4: What materials do you tend to use for
model lessons in input sessions and observed
lessons?

v  Course book
v  Supplementary ELT
v  Authentic
v  Self-created
v  A mix
Q 4: What materials do you tend to use for
model lessons in input sessions and observed
lessons?

v  Course book
v  Supplementary ELT
v  Authentic
v  Self-created
v  A mix
Q 5: How important are the following reasons
for using in TP?
u  Teachers will be expected to use them in schools
u  Trainees need practice in 'bringing book to life ' .
u  Coherent staging to support trainees' planning
u  Useful graded texts for skills work
u  Contexts for language input
u  Variety of practice activities
u  Extra resources usually available
u  Helpful teachers' notes
Trainers
New teachers
Q 6 : How important are the following reasons
for using non-course book lessons in TP?
u  Teachers will be expected to include non-course book
lessons in schools
u  Brings variety to TP
u  Trainees can tailor lesson to needs and interests of
learners
u  Trainees can try out ideas from input
u  Useful practice in creating own lessons from scratch
u  Trainees can exploit authentic materials by following
the receptive skills framework.
u  Exposes trainees to range of ELT supplementary
materials
u  Trainees  'own' the lesson more
u  Planning without support of course book - useful for
grading strong candidates
Trainers
New teachers
New teachers Q 6. In your , how
much do you use course book material?
Answered: 57 Skipped: 65

u  Totally from the book

u  A hybrid of teacher-created and book
based stages
u  Taking topic or language from the book
but not actually using book material
u  Mainly DIY ie non-course book lessons.
u  It depends
 Summary of trainers comments

Ø  Trainees will need to work with CBs in the

so it is our job to prepare them for this.
Ø  Modern CBs cover so many it
would be a pity not to use them.
need the structure, coherence and
security of the CB.
Ø  Most courses but give CPs
more freedom to go ‘ off course book ‘ later.
more go
Ø  Trainers encourage ‘ lessons with CP
created lead-ins and extension tasks.
 teachers enjoy the freedom of
creating their or using
materials.
Ø  In centres with IWBs having CB
materials is useful for CPs.
can be confusing – too
many choices in time frame available.
Ø Some CBs needed to the
eg asylum seekers or working in Muslim
countries
Ø One trainer thinks that CPs creating
their equips them better for
material.
 
Anthony Gaughan Celta Trainer Germany
( from my 2015 talk on teaching frameworks)

u  I gave up pre-determining lesson content ( eg via course

books) for trainees because by not doing so there was
more of an incentive to attend closely to what the
language learners were saying and trying to say; this in
my view accelerates not only monitoring and language
awareness skills, but also the capacity for new teachers
to plan , which in turn
makes them more and .
u  Courses like Celta are already very short; I think that
there is no point in making the trainees' job harder by
the training process with superfluous stuff
like .
 Summary of new teachers’ comments
u  CBs were the and option for
many.
u  Some did feel that
equipped them for avoiding boring CB
material.
u  Some said CBs were not to their
context and found a lot of teaching materials
.
u  One teacher stated that the input session on
how to and CBs had given him
good tools to work with CBs.
u  Several felt that lessons were more
for sts and could be tailored to
.
 Directors of Studies survey
Q 2 : Please indicate the range of sources
you encourage teachers to use in General
English lessons.

using course book material with very little

adaptation
lessons based on course book material with
some adaptation
course book or hybrid lessons with occasional DIY
options
lessons with occasional use of course book
material
material used
u  It
Q 3: How important are the following
reasons for using course books in General
English classes at your centre?

u  Learners' expectations if they own the book

u  They provide a systematic and coherent syllabus
u  Logical staging to support teachers' planning
u  Useful graded texts for skills work
u  Contexts for language input
u  Variety of practice activities
u  Extra resources usually available
u  Helpful teachers' notes
Q 3: How important are the following
reasons for using course books in General
English classes at your centre ?

u  Learners' expectations if they own the book

u  They provide a systematic and coherent syllabus
u  Logical staging to support teachers' planning
u  Useful graded texts for skills work
u  Contexts for language input
u  Variety of practice activities
u  Extra resources usually available
u  Helpful teachers' notes
Q 4: How important are the following reasons for
using lessons in your General
English classes?
u  Learners' expectations - not to be 100% CB based
u  Brings variety to lessons
u  Teachers can tailor lesson to needs and interests
of learners
u  Teachers can usefully exploit authentic materials
u  Teachers can use technology and the internet
u  Teachers can use a range of ELT supplementary
materials
u  Teachers 'own' the lesson more
 Q 5 : Where do you feel freshly trained
teachers in your centre need most support
in exploiting classroom materials?

u  ' Bringing the course book to life ’

u  Working with the language presented in the CB.
u  Working with the receptive skills materials in the CB.
u  Working with the practice activities in the CB.
u  Using authentic materials
u  Using technology and the internet
u  Finding and using ELT supplementary materials
u  Creating their own materials
Any further thoughts on ways initial training
courses could better prepare teachers for the
demands of the ELT classroom ?
u  Most respondents skipped this question!!!!
u  More focus on exploiting materials in depth – both in
language and skills focused lessons. ( London)
u  More than materials, they should be able to teach any
given level and to adapt materials. (Brazil)
u  Teaching more meta-language in advance. Also, a
greater focus on writing skills (production). ( Australia)
u  They need to learn how to be more creative and inject
life into the CBs. ( Dublin)
 ?
Questions???? Feedback??? ?
The end – thanks for coming.

bharrisefl@gmail.com